Shush Please!

by Glenn R. Dinella

Total Landscaping Care Magazine

April 6, 2011

Leaf blowers and edge trimmers spur noise ordinances. Here’s how manufacturers and others are coping with the sound and fury.

Landscape contractors are facing increasing pressure from homeowners associations, municipalities and other government agencies about equipment sound. Blowers are most often targeted, not only due to the sound level at which they operate, but especially their sound frequency. In some cases, communities have enacted limitations or even complete bans on blowers. In an online poll by Noise Free America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting noise, gas-powered leaf blowers were voted the worst invention ever created.

“The official worst offender is the leaf blower, a relatively new tool that has other problems: It is too often used just to move leaves and trash around, and sometimes, onto the neighbor’s property or the street,” says Kim Sorvig, landscape architect and research associate professor, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico. “Much of the pressure for ordinances began after the popularization of blowers.” Sorvig’s research rated the typical gas blower at 110 decibels (dB), just below the pain threshold. Two-cycle engines are particularly noted to be discordant to the human ear.

Noise Ordinances Get Louder
The strictness of noise ordinances varies from city to city. Some cities have banned them altogether, where others have time enforcements. Enforcement is often responsive to public complaint.

The town of Chevy Chase, Maryland, for example, allows a maximum noise level at a receiving property line at 65 dB(A). The ordinance also states leaf blowers may not exceed 70 dB(A) at a distance of 50 feet at anytime. The town also restricts the hours in which construction and landscape work can be conducted.

In September 2010, the Santa Monica, California, city council voted to require their Office of Sustainability and the Environment (OSE) to enforce a leaf blower ban that has been in place for nearly a decade.
In Portland, Oregon, contractors wishing to operate their blowers year round must have equipment that produces 65 dB(A) or less.
Manufacturers of handheld equipment have responded to complaints of noise pollution in a variety of ways, primarily by citing the benefits of more fuel-efficient models, which sometimes, as a pleasant side effect, also reduce noise pollution.

Stihl has pioneered noise reduction design in its models.

Two-cycle equipment has long dominated the professional turf maintenance equipment market, and there’s no shortage of these hardworking tools in use. And while four-stroke units tend to weigh in heavier than comparable two-stroke units due to the addition of an oil tank, oil pump and oil pan, four-stroke equipment offers improved fuel efficiency. With today’s unstable oil prices, which seem to rise every summer, this is a big attraction for landscapers running a lot of handheld equipment. Four-stroke engines also tend to be easier to maintain and more durable with a longer life span. They run cooler, which helps counter the increasing problem contractors find as they are forced to burn E15 gas in their equipment. And their lower decibel ratings are becoming a plus with LCOs operating in communities with noise ordinances.

Honda offers three models of four-cycle engine string trimmers that are 360-degree lubricated (remain lubricated in any position). They also provide these engines for other manufacturers such as Husqvarna. “With a four-stroke, you have torque at a much lower rpm, so of course it’s quieter,” says Tom Pernice, product planning and marketing manager at Honda Power Equipment. “With a two-cycle, you have to run at higher rpms to get sufficient torque.

“You can eliminate noise by doing all kind of things,” Pernice continues. “We put a quiet line on our trimmers as standard equipment so it’s a quieter operation.” Honda’s trimmer line uses the same spiral ridge design found on new car antennas. “That quiets the air flow,” he explains.